By PortalPortuario Editorial Staff
@PortalPortuario
The Royal Navy reported that its support ship RFA Cardigan Bay you are browsing from Cyprus to provide support to an international effort to build a temporary dock for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Loopas indicated by Maritime Executive.
It should be noted that the ship has been in the region on long-term deployment and was positioned in middle East last November as part of the increased presence of United Kingdom after the attack Hamas against Israel and the start of the war in Gaza.
The RFA Cardigan Bay entered service in 2006 and has been deployed to the region. Persian Gulf for more than a decade, except for a maintenance period. She is an amphibious ship designed to transport and unload troops and their equipment via a floodable dock at the stern and a large flight deck.
The ship, which is almost 177 meters long, can also carry “mexeflotes,” which corresponds to 120-foot-long rafts that can be used to transport equipment to land.
In this regard, the captain Simon Herbert RFAnoted that “Cardigan Bay has demonstrated its flexibility and agility by reconfiguring its role as a Fleet Support Base for MCM Operations, to be ready to support the international effort to build a temporary dock to expand the flow of aid to Gaza through of a maritime route.”
“In recent days, we have embarked personnel from the US Army and Navy, as well as specialized equipment from the United Kingdom, to facilitate the construction and operation of the dock, and to operate as a command and control platform,” he added.
The Royal Navy said the ship will provide accommodation for hundreds of American sailors and soldiers working to establish the dock in Gaza.
For his part, the Secretary of Defense of the United Kingdom, Grant Shapps, indicated that it is essential to establish more routes for humanitarian aid and that the United Kingdom would continue to contribute. Highlighting that the UK has increased its humanitarian funding and in recent weeks the Royal Air Force has carried out nine airdrops along the Gaza coast. Yesterday, the RAF delivered more than 85 tonnes of food supplies, including water and flour.
Finally, the dock will initially facilitate the delivery of 90 international aid trucks to Gaza and will be scaled up to 150 once they are fully operational, according to US estimates.
